Pedagogical and Colonial Power Discourses in William Shakespeare’s The Tempest

Moslem Zolfagharkhani, Zahra Heshmatifar

Abstract

This paper aims at exploring the relationship between pedagogy and colonial power as discourse instances in Shakespeare’s The Tempest which dates back to the early seventeenth century. A brief historical study is given focusing on the variety of forms and purposes in pedagogical life of England during 1540 to 1560 and emergence of the Reformation period. It is revealed, for example, that The Tempest is recognized as a model of colonial relationship and as a metaphor of educational history. The concept of power discussed in The Tempest, is not shaped just by supreme authority of the kingdom, but is infl uenced by its relationship with knowledge as an instrument of power in Foucaultian eye. The paper seeks to investigate how Prospero, the master of the colonial prison of his island, makes use of his magical books, the symbols of knowledge, so as to teach all the characters dramatized in the story as all classes of the society, from aristocrats to commoners. In particular, it focuses on Prospero’s reliance on his colonized power presented by verbal and physical punishment toward Caliban, the colonized misshapen creature on the one hand, and homeschooling of Miranda, Prospero’s daughter, on the other hand. The article ends by resembling Prospero’s magical power and his god-like control into a Foucaultian reading of history as he argues that power will inevitably result in some form of resistance. The Tempest suggests an expanding threat of disruption, treason and rebellion as the reaction to the power.

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